Angled support for displaying products

ABSTRACT

A support structure may be mounted to an existing vertical support. In an embodiment, the support structure may include a plurality of horizontal support members. Two or more vertical uprights are mounted to the horizontal supports. The vertical uprights and one of the horizontal support members provide channels for retaining a peg board panel in position. The support structure may be configured so as to cause the peg board panel to at an angle compared to the vertical supports. Multiple support structures may be coupled together to provide runs of peg board panels. Furthermore, the peg board panel may include a graphic that correspond to products being supported by the peg board panel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/175,705, filed on Feb. 7, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/752,018 filed on Jan. 28, 2013, which is adivisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/769,894 filed on Jun. 28,2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,360,254, which claims priority to provisionalapplication Ser. No. 60/806,101, filed Jun. 28, 2006. All of the aboveapplications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of supports used to displayproducts in a retail environment.

Description of Related Art

Retail environments often need to display a wide variety of productsthat range in size. One method of doing so is to provide a verticalsupport, which may be supported by a based or mounted to a wall, whichin turn supports a peg board. The vertical support may include a seriesof repeating holes that provide mounting points for various displaysupports such as shelves and peg hooks. The peg board may also provide aseries of repeating holes, which may be aligned with the holes in thevertical support. While this system has been useful for displayingproducts and provides a degree of flexibility regarding the use ofshelves or peg hooks, the vertical nature of the vertical support andthe joining peg board tends to cause items on display to be directlyabove or below each other. Certain retail locations would benefit fromthe ability to provide a display that allows for an angled presentationof products.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of a support structure is disclosed that may be mounted toa set of vertical supports. In an embodiment, the support structure mayinclude a first horizontal support member in a first upper position, asecond horizontal support member in a second position and a thirdhorizontal support in a third position between the first and secondposition. Two or more vertical uprights may be mounted to the horizontalsupports so as to provide an effective angled support surface. Betweentwo vertical uprights, a peg board panel may be mounted. Channels in thevertical uprights may be used to hold the peg board panel in position.The vertical uprights may include tabs that are configured to engageslots in the horizontal supports so that the support structure may bemounted to the vertical support without the need to use a tool orfastener. In an embodiment, two support structures may be joinedtogether with one or more fasteners so as to form a row of angledsupport structures.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitedin the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicatesimilar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a support structure.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a first horizontalsupport configured to receive a vertical upright.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a second horizontalsupport configured to receive a vertical upright.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a vertical uprightmounted to a horizontal support.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a support structuremounted to a vertical support.

FIG. 6 is an alternative isometric view of the support structuredepicted in FIG. 5 showing the angle of the support structure withrespect to the vertical support.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a portion of a support structure mountedto a vertical support.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged isometric view of the horizontal support depictedin FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged isometric view of the horizontal support depictedin FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged isometric view of the vertical upright andhorizontal support depicted in FIG. 4.

FIG. 11 is a partial isometric view of an embodiment of a horizontalsupport.

FIG. 12 is a schematic cross section of an embodiment of a peg boardpanel engaging a second horizontal support.

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross section of an embodiment of a peg boardpanel engaging a vertical upright.

FIG. 14 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a horizontal supportincluding an arm.

FIG. 15 is an isometric view of an embodiment of two horizontal supportsconfigured to be coupled together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Looking at FIGS. 1-15, an embodiment of a support system 10 is depicted.Two vertical supports 5 with holes 6 are provided with a peg board 7that includes holes 8 extending between them. As can be appreciated,this is similar to a typical peg board installation in that the pegboard 7 is mounted in a vertical manner. While the vertical supports 5are depicted mounted to a wall 2, it should be noted that the verticalsupports 5 may also be supported by a base. A first horizontal support20 is mounted in a first position extending between the two verticalsupports 5. A second horizontal support 40 is mounted to the twovertical supports at a second position below the first position. A thirdhorizontal support 30 is mounted to the vertical supports 5 in a thirdposition between the first and the second position.

In an embodiment, each of the horizontal supports 20, 30, 40 includes anarm on each end of the horizontal support, such as an arm 23 providedfor the first horizontal support 20. The arms allow the horizontalsupports to be positioned so that they are offset with respect to thevertical supports. However, to provide an angled support structure 10,the length of the respective arm increases for each successivehorizontal support, thus a length of an arm 43 for the second horizontalsupport 40 is greater than the length of the arm 23 for the firsthorizontal support 20. Furthermore, the length of the arm 43 of thesecond horizontal support 40 is greater than the length of an arm 33 ofthe third horizontal support, which in turn has a length greater thanthe length of the arm 23.

The length of the arms 23, 33, 43 provides an effective slope thatallows a vertical upright 50 to be supported by the horizontal supports20, 30, 40 in an angle compared to the vertical support 5. When a pegboard panel 60, which may include a pattern of holes 62, is supported atthe depicted angle it can provide the advantage of allowing forwaterfall type display that helps improve the visibility of eachproduct. The resultant angle of the peg board panel may be varied so asto take into account the load being placed on the peg board panel aswell as the resultant increase in the depth of the display while alsotaking into account the visual appearance of products that aresubsequently mounted to the peg board panel 60. It should be noted thatwhile the depicted vertical support 50 is linear, this is not arequirement but is merely advantageous because it can simplify assembly.For example, the ratio of distance between the locations of thehorizontal supports can be maintained even if the overall length of asupported peg board panel 60 is reduced (and the vertical uprights aresimply shortened). In contrast, the use of curved vertical uprightswould require additional care regarding the placement of the horizontalsupports so as to ensure the installation was as desired.

The vertical upright 50 may include one or more tabs 52 that areconfigured to engage slots in the horizontal supports, such as a slot 21in horizontal support 20. The horizontal support 20 may further includean optional retaining hole 22, which while not required, provides thebenefit of ensure that the vertical uprights 50 remain installed once anengaging feature 53 on the tab 52 engages the retaining hole 22.Horizontal supports 30, 40 may also include retaining holes, e.g.retaining hole 42, which provide a similar functionality. To easedisassembly of the system, the optional engaging feature 53 may beincluded only on the upper tab 52. As depicted, the vertical upright 50includes two tabs 52; however, depending on the geometry of the slot 21and the tab 52, some other number of tabs 52 and associated slots may beused to mount the vertical uprights 50 to the horizontal supports 20,30, 40. In addition, the number of tabs and slots may be varieddepending on the position of the vertical upright 50. For example, aleft style vertical upright 50 a, which may be positioned on an edge ofthe support structure, may include a single tab 52 to engage a singleslot 21 in each of the horizontal supports used while a middle stylevertical upright 50 b may include two tabs to engage two slots. Itshould be noted that the slots and tabs may be interchanged althoughsuch a design may make it more difficult to install the verticaluprights.

Once a first vertical upright 50 is mounted to the horizontal supports(which are depicted as being three horizontal supports but depending onthe size and materials properties may be some other number), a peg boardpanel 60 may be positioned next the vertical support 50. To retain thepeg board panel 60 in position, an outer wall 54 is provided on thevertical upright. In the depicted embodiment, the vertical upright 50may include the outer wall 54, an inner wall 56 and a joining wall 55 soas to effectively provide a “T” shaped structure that could retain a pegboard panel 60 on two sides of the vertical upright 50. Alternatively,the outer wall may be configured so as to effectively provide an “L”shaped vertical support for retaining the peg board panel 60 on one sideof the vertical upright 50. As can be appreciated, such a flexibledesign allows for a left style vertical upright 50 a, a middle stylevertical upright 50 b and a right style vertical upright 50 c. Dependingon the design of the slot and associated tabs, the left and right stylevertical uprights 50 a, 50 c may have a different number of tabs thanthe middle style vertical upright 50 b.

In an embodiment the slot 21 may include a larger opening 21 a and neckdown to an engaging portion 21 b near a bottom 21 c of the slot 21. Sucha design provides the advantage of easier assembly while stillmaintaining a reasonably solid support structure once the verticaluprights are assembled to the horizontal supports. The other slots mayalso include a similar design. The second horizontal support 40 and thethird horizontal support 30 may include slots, e.g. slot 41, withsimilar features and functionality where like reference numeralsrepresent like features having like functionality.

As noted above, the peg board panels 60 extend between two verticaluprights and may include holes 62 for support peg hooks and the like.The peg board panel may also include a graphic that provides a desiredtheme for the products that intend to be positioned on the supportstructure. It should be noted that because of the ability to remove thevertical uprights, the peg board panels and/or it graphic can bemodified after installation. This provides the advantage of allowing forcustomized displays that can be changed if the product or the marketingtheme changes. Thus, it is a less complicated and time consuming task tochange the peg board panels if there is a desire to change the graphic.An individual can simply remove a vertical upright, replace the pegboard panel with another peg board panel, and then reinstall thevertical upright. If multiple panels are provided, then it may benecessary to remove more that one vertical upright.

The peg board panel includes a top 60 a, two sides 60 b, 60 c and abottom 60 d. As depicted, the sides 60 b, 60 c and the bottom 60 d ofthe peg board panel 60 are supported. If an open top design is used(e.g., the peg board panel 60 is not restrained at its top 60 a) then itmay be possible to slide the peg board panel 60 in and out of thesupport structure. However, if channels 57 in the vertical uprights 50are too snug to allow the peg board 60 to slide (such a design providesthe benefit of preventing the peg board panel 60 from moving onceinstalled) or if there is insufficient clearance above the supportstructure, then the vertical uprights 50 will need to be uninstalledbefore the peg board panel 60 can be replaced.

To support the peg board panels 60, a lip 44 is provided in the thirdhorizontal support 40. This provides another effective channel 47 tosecure the bottom 60 d of the peg board panel. Thus, the peg boardpanels 60 may be supported on the bottom 60 d and two sides 60 b, 60 cbut, because of the influence of gravity, do not need to be support onthe top 60 a.

Once the support structure 10 is assembled, products may be mounted onit. It should be noted that the support structure 10 may be configuredfor any desirable angle and the angle can be changed if the horizontalsupports are modified by, for example, removing the vertical uprightsand the peg board panel 60 and then replacing one or more horizontalsupports before reinstalling the vertical uprights 50 and the peg boardpanels. It should also be noted that the support structure 10 mayinclude one or more peg board panels. In an embodiment, each peg boardpanel 60 (along with the associated vertical uprights 50) may add anadditional foot to the support structure. An advantage of such a designis that the same basic components may be used to provide a supportstructure 10 for vertical supports where, for example but withoutlimitation, the vertical supports are spaced apart about two feet, threefeet or four feet. Furthermore, as the vertical uprights help supportthe peg board panels, a one foot wide panel is suitable to support awide range of products. However, other dimensions may also be used forthe peg board panels 60, thus the height and width of the peg board maybe varied as desired.

It should be noted that if left and right vertical uprights 50 a, 50 care used, the left and right vertical uprights 50 a, 50 c may beconfigured so as to allow a right and left vertical upright 50 a, 50 cto be mounted adjacent one anther so as to provide a continuous run ofsupport structures 10. To provide additional support and rigidity, twoadjacent horizontal supports may be held together at a fastener junction80. For example, a nut and a screw (not shown) may engage a slot 27 anda hole 29. As can be appreciated, the use of the slot allows the twoarms to be aligned even if the finger 25 is not fully inserted into theholes 6 of vertical support 5. Other known fastener systems may also beused so as to provide an extended run of support structures that areconnected together. In an alternative embodiment, a middle stylevertical upright 50 b can be used to straddle two horizontal supports(such as horizontal support 20) that are joined together.

To provide for possible variations in installation of the verticalsupports 5 to which the horizontal supports 20, 30, 40 are mounted to,the arms 23, 33, 43 of the horizontal supports may include an angledfinger 25 (FIG. 14) that engage the holes 6 of vertical support 5. Theuse of the angled finger 25 to support the arms 23, 33, 43 provides theadvantage of allowing adjacent horizontal supports to have their heightadjusted slightly so as to allow two adjacent horizontal supports tobecome aligned with each other even if the original installation of thevertical supports did not perfectly align the vertical supports. Thus,the design of the finger 25 allows two adjacent arms to be coupledtogether at a fastener junction 80 while still engaging the holes 6 inthe vertical support 5. To accomplish this, the finger 25 may beconfigured to be smaller than the size of the hole 6 so that the finger25 can be moved up while installed (the force of gravity will tend tocause a fully down position to be a default position of the finger 25).As can be appreciated, such a design makes it simpler to provide a runor series of support structures with a consistent height. This has theadvantage of minimizing the effect in variations in the height/verticalalignment of vertical supports 5 and also helps provide a cleanerlooking installation.

The present invention has been described in terms of preferred andexemplary embodiments thereof. Numerous other embodiments, modificationsand variations within the scope and spirit of the claims provided belowwill occur to persons of ordinary skill in the art from a review of thisdisclosure.

We claim:
 1. A method for providing a cascading support for items beingdisplayed in a retail establishment, comprising: mounting a firsthorizontal support to a set of vertical supports, the set of verticalsupports positioned at a first angle; mounting a second horizontalsupport with a first channel to the set of vertical supports; mounting afirst vertical upright with opposing second and third channels on thefirst and second horizontal supports; and mounting a first peg boardpanel in the first channel and the second channel and a second peg boardpanel in the first channel and the third channel, the mounting of thepeg board panels causing the peg board panels to be inclined withrespect to the first angle.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: mounting a third horizontal support between the first andsecond horizontal supports, wherein the first and second verticaluprights are further supported by the third horizontal support.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the mounting of the first vertical uprightincludes: engaging a first slot in the first horizontal support with afirst tab in the vertical upright, and engaging a second slot in thesecond horizontal support with a second tab in the vertical upright. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the first peg board panel having a firstgraphic, the method further comprising: replacing the first peg boardpanel with a third peg board panel having a second graphic.
 5. Themethod of claim 4 comprises: removing a second vertical upright; andremoving the first peg board panel from the first channel; inserting thethird peg board panel in the first channel; and in response to insertingthe third peg board panel, mounting the second vertical upright to thefirst horizontal support.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:prior to mounting the first vertical upright, mounting a thirdhorizontal support between the first and the second horizontal support,the third horizontal support configured to support the first and thesecond vertical upright.
 7. A method of providing a support systemcomprising: providing a first and a second vertical support andconfiguring the first and second vertical support to be positioned at afirst angle; configuring a first horizontal support for mounting to thefirst and the second vertical supports by arms to provide a firstoffset; configuring a second horizontal support for mounting to thefirst and the second vertical supports by arms to provide a secondoffset, the second offset being greater than the first offset; andconfiguring a plurality of vertical uprights for mounting to the firstand the second horizontal supports, providing the plurality of verticaluprights each with opposing channels for supporting a plurality of pegboard panels.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising providing thesecond horizontal support with a plurality of arms configured to engagethe vertical supports, and increasing the length of the plurality ofarms for changing an angle of the plurality of vertical uprightsrelative to the first and second vertical support.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising providing the first horizontal support witha plurality of arms that are shorter than the plurality of arms of thesecond horizontal support.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprisingproviding the second horizontal support with a channel for engaging andretaining the peg board panels.
 11. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising providing the first and second horizontal supports with aplurality of slots and providing the first and second vertical uprightswith a plurality of tabs and configuring the tabs to engage the slots soas to allow the vertical uprights to mount to the horizontal supports.12. The method of claim 7, further comprising providing the firsthorizontal support with a plurality of slots, providing the plurality ofslots with a first opening portion and a second engaging portion andproviding the first and second vertical uprights each with a tabconfigured to fit in the second engaging portion.
 13. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising: providing a third vertical support formounting at the first angle; providing a third horizontal support formounting to the second and the third vertical support by arms thatprovide the first offset; providing a fourth horizontal support formounting to the second and the third vertical supports by arms thatprovide the second offset; and coupling the first and third horizontalsupports together.